Students participate in the Great Southeast ShakeOut earthquake drill at Langston Hughes Middle School in Reston, Virginia. They are conducting the “drop, cover and hold on” safety procedure.

More than 2.7 million people are currently signed up to simulate recommended safety actions during an earthquake in nine states – Tennessee, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Mississippi.

You are invited to join millions of people who will Drop, Cover, and Hold On at 10:15.a.m. on February 7, 2013* in the 2013 Great Central U.S. ShakeOut!

Last year more than 12.5 million people were registered in ShakeOut drills worldwide. Participating is a great way for your family or organization to be prepared to survive and recover quickly from big earthquakes.

Millions of people have participated in ShakeOut drills since 2008. The drill is your chance to practice how to protect yourself and do your part to help prevent a major earthquake from becoming a catastrophe.

Earthquake Hazard in the Central U.S. Remains a Concern

There is broad agreement in the scientific community that a continuing concern exists for a major destructive earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone. Many structures in Memphis, Tenn., St. Louis, Mo., and other communities in the central Mississippi River Valley region are vulnerable and at risk from severe ground shaking. This assessment is based on decades of research on New Madrid earthquakes and related phenomena by dozens of Federal, university, State, and consulting earth scientists.

This will be the third year an earthquake preparedness drill is officially held in the central United States. Even if you don’t live in one of these locations, this is an important exercise as earthquakes are a hazard worldwide. Keep in mind that you might travel somewhere where an earthquake could occur. Everyone, everywhere, is encouraged to participate in the ShakeOut.

Sign Up and ShakeOut

Although the ShakeOut is TOMORROW, it is not too late to register to participate. Mark your calendar and register for the ShakeOut drill near you. Families, schools, businesses, and organizations can all get involved and sign up.

The drill will begin at 10:15 a.m. local time. If you are indoors, you should “drop, cover, and hold on.” Drop to the floor, take cover under a sturdy desk or table, and hold on to it firmly. If you are not near a desk or table, drop to the floor against the interior wall and protect your head and neck with your arms. Avoid exterior walls, windows, hanging objects, mirrors, tall furniture, large appliances, and kitchen cabinets with heavy objects or glass.

While down on the floor, take a moment to look around at what could be falling during a real earthquake. Those items should be secured or moved after the drill.

During an earthquake, the recommended safety action is to “drop, cover, and hold on.”

If you happen to be outdoors, move to a clear area if you can safely do so. Avoid power lines, trees, signs, buildings, vehicles, and other items that could fall on you. If you are driving, pull over to the side of the road, stop, and set the parking brake. Avoid stopping under overpasses, bridges, power lines, or traffic signs. Stay inside the vehicle until the shaking is over.

USGS Science in ShakeOut

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is a proud founder and supporter of ShakeOut.

Students participate in the Great Southeast ShakeOut earthquake drill at Langston Hughes Middle School in Reston, Virginia. They are conducting the “drop, cover and hold on” safety procedure.

The USGS has created and provides information tools to support earthquake loss reduction, including hazard assessments, scenarios, comprehensive real-time earthquake monitoring and public preparedness handbooks. USGS science provides the basis for earthquake scenarios that shape preparedness exercises such as the ShakeOut. USGS earthquake hazards research helps emergency managers understand where earthquakes occur and what the potential damages and losses would be.

The original ShakeOut was based on a comprehensive analysis of a major earthquake in southern California known as “The ShakeOut Scenario.” That project was completed in 2008 and led by the USGS with many partners as a demonstration of how science can be applied to reduce risks related to natural hazards. The concept and organization of a public drill came out of the collaboration between the USGS, the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), and other partners through the Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA). SCEC is a research consortium funded in part by the USGS. ECA is a public-private partnership of people, organizations, and regional alliances that are led by SCEC and work together to improve preparedness, mitigation, and resiliency by supporting and coordinating efforts that improve earthquake and tsunami resilience.

The success of the 2008 ShakeOut spurred the organizers at ECA to take the concept worldwide, and turn it into an annual day of disaster preparedness activities. Nationwide, ShakeOut activities are now coordinated and supported by many agencies and partners including SCEC, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), the American Red Cross, and others.

The proposed USGS budget reflects research priorities to respond to nationally relevant issues, including water quantity and quality, ecosystem restoration, hydraulic fracturing, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, and support for the National Ocean Policy, and has a large R&D component.

Everyone is familiar with weather systems on earth like rain, wind and snow. But space weather – variable conditions in the space surrounding Earth – has important consequences for our lives inside Earth’s atmosphere.

A new geologic map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and vicinity has been created. The map area includes the entire Lassen Volcanic Center, parts of three older volcanic centers, and the products of regional volcanism.

To better understand and reduce tsunami hazards, USGS scientists examined sediment deposited by the tsunami in and around Sendai, Japan, as part of an international tsunami survey team organized by Japanese scientific cooperators.

New Zealand has experienced another damaging earthquake close to the city of Christchurch, which is still recovering from the magnitude-6.1 earthquake that struck in February. This latest quake has resulted in additional damage to buildings and infrastructure.

As hurricane season starts, researchers are modeling potential changes to
coastal environments to identify communities vulnerable to extreme erosion during storms. Data collected before and after storm landfall are used to verify past forecasts and improve future predictions.

The USGS and the National Weather Service have developed a new flood inundation map tool that enables management officials and residents to see where the potential threat of flooding is the highest along the Flint River near Albany, Georgia.

Volcanic eruptions have always been a part of human history; the American experience is no exception. On November 3rd, USGS’s Dr. John Eichelberger discusses new USGS programs which establish monitoring networks on all hazardous US volcanoes, to reduce the effects of volcanic hazards on communities.

Looking for information on natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and more? The USGS Education site provides great resources, including lessons, data, maps, and more, to support teaching, learning, K-12 education, and university-level inquiry and research.

Flash flooding is one of the major causes of natural hazard-related deaths in the United States and is hard to predict, but data collected by the USGS is crucial to formulating better predictive models.

On Nov. 3, USGS scientists Patrick Barnard and William Ellsworth will present a public lecture in Menlo Park, CA, providing Bay Area residents information about USGS research in the San Francisco Bay Area, including recent discoveries beneath San Francisco Bay and ongoing studies to better understand earthquake probabilities and the potential hazards associated with strong ground shaking.